Candidate: Doreszell Cohen

Biography Doreszell Cohen was born December 1, 1976 and is a native of Jacksonville, FL. She is a divorced mother of eight children, four girls and four boys. Ms. Cohen graduated from William M. Raines- Class of 1995; as a teen mother with two daughters. By fall (1996), she had buckled her boots and enrolled into Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ). After attaining her AA degree, Ms. Cohen transferred to University of North Florida (UNF) where she continued her studies in Education eventually attaining her BA degree in Elementary Education. With Ms. Cohen obtaining her State of Florida Professional Educator license (2002), she embarked upon the next chapter in her life as a Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) public school teacher. In 2006, Ms. Cohen put her “boots on the ground” to address the blighted areas and countless issues that people who lived in such underdeveloped communities deal with every day. By December 2011, Ms. Cohen was convinced that the lack of access to quality information was part cause of disenfranchisement, marginalization, and other discriminatory effects between the powerful and the powerless. In July 2014, Ms. Cohen stood by the side of a senior citizen who was falsely accused and arrested. Ms. Cohen stood by this SENIOR FIRST- as she refused the pressures to plea. In November 2016, Ms. Cohen listened to the issues brought forth by citizens at a City Council town hall meeting; when she approached Curtis Lee. Since this time, they merged their efforts and founded the not-for-profit organization, Citizens For Criminal Justice Reform (CFCJR). Ms. Cohen is wrapping up her doctoral studies at Walden University and expects to graduate with her PhD in Organizational Psychology in October 2019. Ms. Cohen has been focused on the research topic of leadership since 2010. She believe the citizens of Jacksonville deserve a local government that is (a) both consistent with the best-practices known to our professional institutions and systems inside THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION OF AMERICA and humanity.